


Call my name and save me from the dark

by 9KLR2



Category: Rawhide (TV)
Genre: Coda to S2 E5 Incident at Jacob's Well, Favorowdy (can be read as platonic or romantic), Gen, M/M, Nightmares, PTSD, Protective Gil Favor, Rowdy Whump, Supportive Rawhide Squad, Title from "bring me to life" by Evanesence, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-08 04:17:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20307865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/9KLR2/pseuds/9KLR2
Summary: After the Incident at Jacobs Well, Rowdy has a PTSD triggered nightmare of his time as a POW.





	Call my name and save me from the dark

**Author's Note:**

> My first Rawhide fic :)  
Now I'm torturing Rowdy to. I feel like a monster. But this plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone.

Gil started awake. At first he was unsure of what had woken him, but as his senses woke properly, he heard it. Just to his left. Harsh ragged breaths and pained grunts. In the dim light of the dying fire and wane moon, he saw Rowdy in the grips of a nightmare, curled up on his side, arms wrapped around himself and shivering. His expression was a mix of pain, anger and fear.  
Gil was up and at Rowdy's side in an instant. "Rowdy?" He spoke softy while trying to move him out of his curled up position, "Rowdy, wake up."  
Rowdy groaned again, louder this time and the sound was enough to wake Pete, who looked over in confusion before hurying over to them. "What's wrong? He asked.  
Gil didn't look up, "Nightmare. Come on, Rowdy, wake up. Rowdy."  
Rowdy came to with a gasp, eyes wide and paniced. Gil had one hand on his shoulder and placed the other against the side of Rowdy's head, "It's okay. It's Gil. You're safe."  
Rowdy calmed a bit but his eyes still weren't quite right, his skin was cold to touch and he was still shivering. Gill looked up at Pete, "Build up the fire."  
While Pete moved to fix the fire, Gil gently pulled Rowdy to sit up and wrapped his blanket around Rowdy's shoulders. He rubbed his hands against Rowdy's arms over the blanket, trying to warm him. "What's wrong, Rowdy? What happened?" he asked, trying to figure out what had sent his Ramrod into this state.  
"D...dark...co...ld" was all Rowdy said, his shakes making him stammer over the words.  
Gil wracked his mind to figure out what had caused this before his eye caught sight of the white bandages covering Rowdy's hands. Oh course. The well. He throught back to a few months ago when Rowdy had told him about his time as a prisoner. Being held at the base of a mine shaft, starving, freezing, surrounded by endless darkness. Spending the night at the bottom of that well, cold and wet, fighting with everything he had to try to climb out. It was all to simillar.  
Gil hadn't thought of it till now because Rowdy hadn't seemed affected before. Tired and sore but that was it. But now, in the middle of the night, with the fire died down and the air crisp, it had been enought to send him bak into those dark memories.  
Pete finished building up the fire and the air around them wamed. At some point, Wish, Joe and Jim had woken. Wish, seeing the look on Rowdy's face, had hurried over. Gil held up a hand before Wish could start fussing, "Can you heat up some coffee for him?" he said, quietly "And make it sweet."  
Wish went to fix the coffee as Jim and Joe drifted closer. They didn't ask. They didn't have to. They, like Gil, Pete and Rowdy, had all fought in the war. They'd seen reactions like this before. But it was somehow more painful to see it from Rowdy.  
Wish soon came back with the warmed coffee and Gil took the cup, gently pressing it to Rowdy's mouth, encouraging Rowdy to take a sip.  
Rowdy took a few mouthfulls before he reached up to take the cup from Gil, pressing it against his chest and staring blankly into the fire.  
It felt like the worst kind of unnatural, seeing Rowdy like this. Anything else, he would bounce back, either with either with dumb jokes or attitudle remarks. To see him just shut down like this, it worried everybody. The others stayed close but tried not to hover. They knew what Rowdy hated the most was to feel weak so they didn’t want to come across as over protective, even if it was how they felt. All except Gil, who stayed sat by Rowdy’s side with one arm wrapped around his shoulder. He could feel Rowdy pressing against his side and it was enough of a reaction to let Gil know Rowdy wanted him there.  
To break the silence, Joe started telling stories about the beach at Galveston, where he’d grown up.  
The others listened attentively, while still sneaking concerned looks at Rowdy.  
Slowly, Gil felt the last of the shakes leave Rowdy’s body. His eyes came back into focus and he began to glance around the camp with more clarity. When he huffed a soft laugh at one of Joe’s stories about a failed childhood fishing attempt, the others felt relief wash over them. Rowdy would be okay. They stayed like this for a while longer, swapping stories about nothing and making sure the fire was going strong. Rowdy remained quiet and still, but he smiled and laughed gently along with them and finished the coffee in his cup. Eventually, he began to lean heavier against Gil’s side and his eyes started to droop as his need for sleep caught up with him. At a nod from Gil, the others made their way back to their own beds.  
Gil eased Rowdy back down onto his bedroll, made a quick check of his hands to see how the bandages were holding up and sorted the blankets so that they covered him properly. Rowdy was fast asleep now. Gil laid down on his own bedroll beside him, but didn’t sleep. Instead he kept watch. In case Rowdy’s night terrors returned. But Rowdy slept peacefully now. The relaxed expression on his face really brought out how young he actually was. Far too young to have experienced the things he had.  
In the morning he would be his usual self. A bit self-conscious but the others wouldn’t give him a hard time. Every one of them had something that haunted their thoughts at some point. They understood. In the daylight, things would be better. And until the dawn chased away any demons that still lurked in the dark, Gil would watch over him.


End file.
